]]>The first inaugural Montreal Poutine Week, a week that saw 37 Montreal restaurants offer creative and inspired variations of our comfort dish of French fries and gravy topped with fresh cheese curds, has just wrapped up. Here are some of the more inventive and unique poutines of the week….

Burger Bar Crescent, The “real” hangover poutine: Hand-cut fries, fresh cheese curds, sautéed wild B.C. mushrooms, truffle oil and topped with a fried egg. The woody truffle oil drew out the earthiness of the mushrooms highlighted by satiny under-cooked yolk sitting on a bed of golden fries, this poutine was hearty and delicious.

Lola Rosa Park, “Lola Poutine”: Noted vegetarian and vegan restaurant saw the inclusion of a 100% vegetarian poutine made with a mix of regular and sweet potato fries, brown sauce of beans and mushrooms, cheese curds and topped with scallions. Simple and straight forward, this modest poutine was all about the sauce; smokey and deep in flavor.

Fabergé, “Breakfast Poutine”: Home-fries (roasted potato wedges), topped with caramelized onions and bell peppers, sprinkled with fresh cheese curds, sliced bacon bits, dressed with hollandaise sauce and topped with an over-easy egg, this poutine was a great way to start the day.

Namos, “Poutine on the beach”: This Greek tapas restaurant was offering a twist on a family recipe – home-made French fries, kima meat sauce, kefalotiri and shaved cheese topped this redition of poutine.

Biarritz, “Steakhouse Poutine”: This poutine was served on top of a 25 oz dry-aged rib steak and was the specialty dish of the week. At $50, this dish saw thick-cut homemade French fries topped with sautéed king oyster mushrooms, fresh cheese curds and topped with “forestiere” sauce.

Poutineville, “The Montrealer”: The inclusion of a restaurant aptly named “Poutineville” is given when celebrating a week of its namesake in Montreal. They entered three very unique poutines in a bid to take the crown of Montreal’s best poutine: A homage to Montreal, the classic poutine of homemade fries, brown sauce and cheese curds was used as the base; topped with sautéed mushrooms, handcut Montreal smoked meat, topped with shredded Swiss cheese and then baked, and garnished with a fried dill pickle.

Poutineville, “The Poutineville”: This poutine features poutineville’s signature braised beef and redwine gravy, served over “smashed” potatoes, shredded mozzarella and fresh cheese curds. This poutine is definitely a robust meal in itself… or two, or three, or five.

Poutineville, “The General Tao”: Great anticipation was surrounding this poutine as it was unveiled days before Poutine Week. Homemade general tao sauce tossed with tender pieces of battered fried chicken, sat atop of smashed potatoes, cheese curds and light brown gravy, garnished with sesame seeds and scallions.